Factfulness

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2018

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Chapter 1

Chapters 2-3

Chapters 4-5

Chapters 6-7

Chapters 8-9

Chapters 10-11

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 4-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 4 Summary: “The Fear Instinct”

Rosling opens this chapter with a story from his time as a junior doctor. A patient arrived in the hospital wearing an air force suit. Unbeknownst to him, Rosling accidentally stepped on the red life vest color cartridge, causing it to appear as if the man was bleeding heavily. Between the blood and the man’s suit, Rosling jumped to the conclusion the pilot was a Russian who had been shot down and that Sweden was under attack. Fortunately, the head nurse arrived, informed Rosling the man was a Swedish pilot, and took charge before Rosling’s fear allowed him to neglect the man’s hypothermia and make a devastating mistake.

Fear caused Rosling to see what he thought was real instead of actual reality. He summarizes the fear instinct by saying that “[t]here’s no room for facts when our minds are occupied by fear” (103). The way our brains are hardwired allows us to process the most dramatic information quickly and easily. News outlets use hardwired fears to present horrific stories as the norm when, in fact, the circumstances are not as bad as they seem. Rosling asserts that in reality, the world has never been safer, but dramatic stories grab our attention.

Fear also has a positive side. When humans are motivated by common fears, they find ways to improve situations. For example, airplane crashes scared people away from flying, so air travel companies banded together to document crashes and improve safety. Fear helped air travel improve, showing that “fear can be useful, but only if it is directed at the right things” (122).

Knowing the difference between fear and danger enables us to control the fear instinct. Fearful situations trigger the fear instinct but present no actual threat. Danger both triggers fear and threatens our wellbeing. Fear also leads to poor decision-making. Rosling reminds us to put off choices until we are calm so that we can make better, more informed decisions.

Chapter 5 Summary: “The Size Instinct”

The size instinct is the tendency “to get things out of proportion” (128). This happens when people misjudge the importance of a single number or single incident. While working at a small hospital in Mozambique (Level 1), Rosling realized he was treating only a fraction of the sick children in the region. The medical resources were limited, demonstrating that it made more sense to work toward better education and living conditions than to pour resources into the terminally ill. Vaccines and trained nurses could do more than hospital beds for sick children who never made it to the hospital. By focusing on one ill child, hundreds of other sick children suffered or died.

Controlling the size instinct requires us to compare and divide. Single numbers do not represent an entire story. At least one other number is needed to make a comparison. For example, 4.2 million babies died in 2016, which seems huge until it’s compared to 14.4 million in 1950. Deaths decreased over time, which we would never know “without comparing the numbers” (131). Dividing shows change when multiple factors are involved. Dividing the babies born by the babies who died in 2016 and 1950 shows a 13% mortality rate in 1950 and a 3% mortality rate in 2016.

Chapters 4-5 Analysis

Rosling discusses the fact that the fear instinct allows us to experience a belief that is not real as a truth. Perfectly innocent situations become disasters when fear overtakes logic. Rosling’s inability to see past his childhood fear of World War III and a Russian attack almost led Rosling to mistreat a patient, which could have led to an unnecessary death. The media preys on these types of fears, showing how universally strong the fear instinct is. Images of war-torn nations, snapshots of destruction from natural disasters, and depictions of increasing threats to our survival (such as world population growth and its potentially devastating effects on our resources) fill the news. They trigger the fear instinct, which triggers the negativity instinct. The result are assumptions based on a single, isolated incident that is not representative of the world as a whole.

Rosling also introduces the positive potential of fear. Fear can be a tool. It is not inherently good or bad. Fear becomes a problem when we allow it to consume us, but when used well, fear can drive progress. Air travel improved because companies recognized fear as a barrier to success and progress. By solving real problems based on exaggerated fears, airplanes became safer, and today, travel by flight is commonplace. Fear and other dramatic instincts have their uses but only when combined with fact-based thinking.

Rosling’s math in Chapter 5 looks cruel at first glance. Turning attention away from a very sick child to save children who are less sick may feel amoral to individuals living on Level 4, illustrating the vast difference between life at either end of the income spectrum. When there are more resources and it is possible to treat almost every ill person, drawing attention away from the sick makes less sense. In situations where resources are scarce and substandard, sacrifices must be made, which is why system-wide improvements have a greater impact than expensive hospitals the people can’t afford. Educating parents and nurses about preventative healthcare ensures fewer children become sick enough to require a hospital. Under poor conditions, education saves lives. In Chapter 1, Rosling argues against extremes as a way to understand the world, but as we saw in Chapter 5, nothing is purely negative. Like fear, extremes have their place. In extreme poverty, solutions look different than they do on Level 4, and the difference is not inhumane.